A proposed ordinance change could either eliminate fishing tournaments on Stafford Pond altogether, or at the very least, make them expensive to sponsor. The Tiverton Town Council on Monday night scheduled a public hearing on the proposed amendment for its April 22 meeting.

A proposed ordinance change could either eliminate fishing tournaments on Stafford Pond altogether, or at the very least, make them expensive to sponsor.

The Tiverton Town Council on Monday night scheduled a public hearing on the proposed amendment for its April 22 meeting.

The proposed regulations would require the sponsors of fishing tournaments six boats or larger to take out a $1 million insurance policy for each day they hold a tournament.

That policy would cover liability, as well as environmental pollution and potential cleanup, said Town Council member Bill Gerlach.

“We’re really trying to make sure there’s adequate protection if there were a catastrophic accident in the pond,” Gerlach said. “The insurance really conveys the importance of this potential risk.”

In addition to the insurance, A sponsor of a fishing tournament would also need to acquire a permit from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management for use of its boat ramp, and another permit from the town, which would come with a $50 fee.

That sponsor must also register a list of participating fishing vessels, hire a police detail and provide portable toilets and trash receptacles onsite at least 24 hours in advance of the tournament, and remove them no later than 24 hours after it ends.

Violating the ordinance comes with a $500 fine per violation.

Stone Bridge Water District “does not have the ability to filter out materials” in the event of a gasoline or oil spill, Gerlach explained.

Boats used in the tournaments may also bring invasive species to the pond, Gerlach said.

The cost to insure the tournaments and provide the police detail would make holding the tournaments cost-prohibitive, according to council member Jay Lambert.

“My impression would be, what you’re trying to do is to make it impossible for anybody to conduct a fishing tournament,” Lambert said. “Those would be very expensive fish.”

Whether the ordinance passes or not, questions of who owns and controls Stafford Pond still need to be answered, noted council President Edward Roderick.

“This ordinance could be a little gray to begin with,” Roderick said.

According to the ordinance, Stafford Pond is the source of drinking water for 10,000 people in Tiverton, and “the loss of such supply would cause catastrophic consequences to the citizens of Tiverton.”

Earlier this year, DEM announced a schedule of 16 fishing tournaments, starting next month, but did so without previously consulting the town, according to officials.

RIDEM Division of Fish and Wildlife restocks the pond with trout prior to each tournament.

According to the proposed ordinance, which would amend Chapter 15 of the town’s charter, “R.I.G.L. forbids any activity that will ‘pollute or corrupt or impair the purity of quality of a public drinking water supply or which renders the water supply injurious to health or poses a potential significant risk to public health.

Page 2 of 2 - “Prompt action is needed to mitigate such risk in the short term. ... A further concerted effort is needed to reduce such risk to drinking water quality in the future.”

The ordinance follows a meeting last month town officials and local legislators had with RIDEM officials.

“The next steps coming out of that was they agreed to hold a follow-up dialogue,” Gerlach said. “While that’s all well and good, it was the feeling of a group of individuals involved that the town should not necessarily wait for DEM to take a lead on this.”

In a letter submitted to The Herald News on Tuesday, Gerlach invited Tiverton residents to also attend a DEM sponsored hearing Tues., April 2 at the Tiverton Rod and Gun Club, 1529 Fish Road, to “show their support regarding Stafford Pond’s water quality.”